Game of Thrones: Season 7 Episode 5 (Review) – Reunions!!!

Game of Thrones continues to prove how it is a class above any other television show that is on right now. I am still thinking about the spectacular final 20 minutes of ‘The Spoils of War’. I was on the edge of my seat throughout and it left me desperately waiting for ‘Eastwatch’, the latest episode in Season 7. Honestly, this whole week has felt like a year and this proves how much of an event Game of Thrones is. I could not wait to see what would happen next in this incredible story.

My Thoughts on Season 7 Episode 5 of Game of Thrones

‘Eastwatch’ was not the right title for this episode of Game of Thrones. In ‘Dragonstone’, we were only at Dragonstone for the final moments of that episode. The same thing happened in this episode. We were only at Eastwatch for a very short time. Apart from the misleading title, I could not find anything to fault in this episode. While it is a much different episode than I was expecting after ‘The Spoils of War’, there were so many great moments in this episode, especially for the hardcore fans.

Let’s start at the beginning. Obviously, I knew that Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Bronn (Jerome Flynn) would be alive but I was surprised that they were not captured. Honestly, I liked that this happened, especially as we would see Jaime’s tense relationship with Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) continue. Additionally, the reunion I expected to happen between Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and Jaime eventually came to be (more on that later) so I was not disappointed that this did not occur at the start.

Speaking of Tyrion, I found his role in the beginning of ‘Eastwatch’ to be very compelling. Seeing the discomfort he was in when walking through the ash-laden field and the way he struggled to get through to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) was a great way to show how he is still deeply connected to Westeros and the life he previously lived. Moreover, it continues to prove that Daenerys is going down a very dangerous path.

Her decision to give every Lannister soldier an ultimatum to either join her or die was such a contrast to her previous ability to inspire people to follow her through hope rather than fear. The clash between Tyrion and Daenerys in this scene showed how different their views are in terms of the best way to conquer Westeros. As ‘Eastwatch’ progressed, we saw Tyrion and Varys (Conleth Hill) have their own discussion regarding their concerns about Daenerys. I always love it when these two characters are together in any episode of Game of Thrones and this scene was both funny and important from a story perspective too.

We continued to see the relationship between Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys develop in ‘Eastwatch’. Indeed, seeing Drogon approach and connect with Jon was a key moment in this episode of Game of Thrones as it gives us even more confirmation about Jon’s Targaryen heritage (more on that later). Additionally, you could see the surprise in Daenerys when this happened but any affection that she developed for Jon after this scene was overshadowed by her reunion with Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen).

This reunion was extremely heartfelt. After all the ups and downs this relationship has had, it was great to see Daenerys and Jorah come together again in a very loving way. While Jorah will probably always remain in the friendzone, it was a loving reunion. Still, I was screaming at the TV later in the episode when Jorah decided to leave Daenerys to take part in Jon’s mission beyond The Wall (more on that later). He just got back!! Still, their goodbye was, once again, heartfelt and emotional. I just hope that they will be together again soon because Jorah is a great character and I want to see more of him with Daenerys in the future. I want his journey to continue although I fear the worst.

A reunion which was much more tense was the eventual meeting between Tyrion and Jaime. Now, as you read above, I was expecting this meeting to happen earlier in the episode and under much different circumstances. However, I am very happy about how Tyrion and Jaime came together. It was a very intimate scene and you could feel the pain in both characters about how they came to this situation. You could see the love they have for each other and I feel as though their relationship will be pivotal in future episodes of Game of Thrones.

I thought that Cersei Lannister would crucify Jaime for meeting Tyrion. However, she acted in a completely different way from what I was expecting. Clearly, Cersei and Jaime were already at odds from an earlier scene regarding both the hopelessness in their ability to defeat Daenerys and the truth about who killed Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson). I thought the clash they had in this scene would continue when Jaime told Cersei about meeting Tyrion but I was wrong. Cersei was calm and collected yet quietly angry when she told Jaime to never betray her again. Additionally, I think that she is lying about her pregnancy and the only reason why she said this was to keep Jaime on her side which will not last.

While Tyrion had his own reasons for being in King’s Landing, Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham) also had priorities. Indeed, this led to another reunion in ‘Eastwatch’ which was a brilliant piece of fan service. After a four-season absence, Gendry (Joe Dempsie) is back. He stopped rowing!! I was like a giddy kid when it clicked for me that we were going to see Gendry, the bastard son of Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), reunite with Davos and Davos’ rowing joke was such a great nod to the fans.

Back in Winterfell, Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) is still being a sneaky snake. While I do believe his downfall is near, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) fell into his trap. The goal of this was to obviously divide Arya and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). Indeed, we saw the tension between the two in one scene of ‘Eastwatch’ where Arya confronts Sansa about her motives and loyalty to Jon. I feel as though they will unite against Littlefinger eventually but he is doing his best to create chaos and keep climbing that ladder.

For me, the most important revelation that occurred in this episode of Game of Thrones happened at Oldtown. The conversation between Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) and Gilly (Hannah Murray) revealed even more about Jon’s lineage, before Sam rudely cut Gilly off. We learnt that Rhaegar Targaryen had his marriage to Elia Martell annulled and he married someone else in secret. Clearly, this is Lyanna Stark who is Jon Snow’s true mother. When we consider this and all we have seen so far, we can strongly suggest that Jon is not a bastard. He is a true Targaryen and, in turn, he has an arguably stronger claim to the Iron Throne than Daenerys. This was told in such a subtle way yet its relevance is monumental.

Additionally, seeing Sam man up and leave Oldtown again proves how far he has come from his shy, timid days at The Wall. Speaking of The Wall, we end ‘Eastwatch’ at that location but not at Castle Black. As we previously discussed, the final moments of this episode of Game of Thrones were at Eastwatch. Jon Snow made the decision to leave Dragonstone and form a small party who would go beyond The Wall . Their purpose was to capture one of the White Walkers so they could take it back to Cersei and prove their existence in the hope of forming a temporary alliance.

Jon Snow left Dragonstone with Jorah, Davos and Gendry in tow. They met with Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) at Eastwatch and this squad was improved even more with the inclusion of Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer), Thoros (Paul Kaye) and The Hound (Rory McCann). Seeing the legends in this “Magnificent Seven” going to capture a White Walker left me so excited, especially with the fact that Tormund and The Hound are together. The amount of fun we could have seeing these two characters interact with each other was such a great prospect to think of when it comes to the next episode.

That being said, this plan is so f*****g stupid. I will say that from a story perspective, it is great. From a decision-making perspective that was made by the characters in this show, it is dumb. Capturing one of the White Walkers?!? Are you insane?!?!? This is a suicide mission! I am so worried for everyone involved in this mission because some of my favourite characters are now in a lot of danger. I have no doubt that some if not most of the squad will die in the next episode, no matter how painful it will be to watch (If Jorah dies, I swear I wi……).

As I previously mentioned, the only thing that I would contest about this episode of Game of Thrones is that the title was misleading. Apart from this, I have also seen other fans of this TV show get annoyed about the time jumps this season but it has not bothered me in the slightest. Throughout this show, time jumps have, for me, always been necessary to push the story forward. Moreover, what we consider to be minutes in the show could be days, weeks or even months in the timeline of Westeros. ‘Eastwatch’ was a great way to set-up the final two episodes of Season 7 and I am sure it will be emotional (If Tormund dies, I am goi…).

6 comments

This was a good read to remind me what happened in the last episode! Honestly can’t wait for the next one!!!
Personally I liked this episode quite a lot (especially Gendry parts, Sam leaving the Citadele and Jaime with Tyrion) but I’d say it was the first episode of this season I only liked, not loved.
I actually think Cersei is not lying BUT she’s gonna have a miscarriage or she’ll die before the baby is born. But she might be lying, you can never know with her…
And if Tormund dies I’m gonna be SOO angry. Fingers crossed for this suicidal mission of theirs.
Great post! x

Thanks! I think Season 7 is on its way to being my favourite season of Game of Thrones so far, just have to see how the next couple of episode pan out! Yes, no matter what, Cersei will not have another baby. 🙂

Definitely, season 7 has so far been just amazing, much better than season 5 and 6 and depending on the last two episodes it might be the best one of them all! I’m just wondering how we’re going to survive waiting another year for the last season…